Moore and Allen sign with prestigious promotion Group in USA

Feb 04, 2011 Sports

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Local bantamweight and multiple champion of several prestigious championship belts, Leon Moore is the latest Guyanese to join the Boxing 360 promotional group in the USA, emulating his countryman, Lennox Allen.
A report posted on fightnews.com stated that the North American promotions group has managed to clinch the services of the Guyanese pugilist to add to a formidable stable that includes such fighters as USBA heavyweight champion Maurice ‘Sugar Moe’ Harris, former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, veteran heavyweights Mike Mollo and 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason ‘Big Six’ Estrada, Joshua ‘The Juice’ Harris, Emad Ali, KO king Tyrone Brunson, Angel ‘Toro’ Hernandez and “King” David Estrada.
Boxing 360 has quickly gained popularity after signing up the above fighters in its stables. Reports are that CEO of Boxing 360, Mario Yagobi, is extremely pleased with his new catch and has lauded Moore’s boxing ability.
“Guyana is not a rich country and, boxing-wise, fighters from there are very hungry to succeed,” he said. “Boxing 360 has quite a following there, based on our website (www.Boxing360.com) hits, and I’ve received many emails from Guyanese boxers that want to join the Boxing 360 family. Guyanese love boxing and it’s a tremendous advantage for us that all of the boxers that came from there that we’ve dealt with also speak English.”
Moore is rated No. 3 by the World Boxing Council, behind Giovani Caro (Mexico) and Simpiwe Vetyeka (South Africa). The reigning WBC super bantamweight champion is Toshiaki Nishika. Moore is also rated as No. 13 in the junior featherweight division by the World Boxing Organization (WBO). The 32-year-old southpaw sports an impressive record of 27-2. He has stopped 22 of his opponents and is the reigning WBC CABOFE super bantamweight champion, as well as the former NABA, PABA, Guyanese and CABOFE bantamweight titlist.
Moore captured the WBC CABOFE and NABA bantamweight belts in September 2009, when he won a unanimous 12-round decision against former 2-time world champion Maurico Pastrana in a bout at the Princess Hotel Providence. A year ago also, Moore won a unanimous 12-round decision over Indonesia Boxing Association champion Marangin Marbun in Thailand and clinched the vacant PABA crown. In his last fight, on November 16 last, Moore won a highly controversial 10-round decision against Venezuelan Breilor Teran also at the Princess Hotel, Providence. The stylish southpaw, who recently moved to New York City, hasn’t lost in nearly four years. “He represents Boxing 360’s best chance for its first world champion,” exhorted Mr. Yagobi.
Meanwhile, Moore is currently addressing immigration matters to authenticate his stay in the North American country. “We hope to have him make his U.S. debut here in New York within the next month or two,” said Mr. Yagobi. “We feel that he is just about one or two good fights away from a major fight, hopefully for the world title. Because of the division he fights in he’ll probably have to fight for the world title in Mexico or the Far East,” explained the Boxing 360 CEO.
Lennox Allen also came in for high praise. The Guyanese southpaw who turned pro 6 ½ years ago in Georgetown had attempted to kick start his boxing career when he moved to Perth, Western Australia. Unfortunately, things didn’t work-out there as expected for the Guyanese pugilist and 18 months later he returned to his homeland.
He engaged in three more unbeaten bouts there before traveling to the United States in 2008 as a sparring partner for Bernard Hopkins who was preparing to fight Joe Calzaghe. He was very impressive but fortunes did not immediately turn his way. The 6′ 1” Allen returned to Guyana and captured the vacant Guyanese super middleweight title a year ago after defeating Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes. He then moved to Brooklyn and signed a promotional contact with Boxing 360.
Since then the lanky Guyanese pugilist has chalked up a 4-0-1 record fighting in the U.S and reports are that he’s becoming more comfortable in each fight. Back in November, Allen shook-off the passing of his brother to stop previously undefeated Nick Brinson in the seventh round for the vacant New York State title.
He replicated that performance last Friday night in Yonkers when he knocked out 23-fight veteran Jesse Orta in the second round to take his record to an impressive 14-0-1, 9 KOs. The victory became even more meritorious when it was noted that in his previous fight, Orta lasted five rounds against world title challenger Danny “The Golden Boy” Jacobs who sports a 20-1 record. He also went the distance with undefeated middleweight prospects Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (22-0, 10 KOs) and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs).
Discussing plans for Allen’s future Mr. Yagobi said “We’re going to start putting him in tougher bouts.  He first fought here last March and it’s night and day between that fight and his last. He is so much more confident now. He trains hard, plants his feet for added power, and is using his natural skills more. We’re going to keep him busy, fighting him every month or two, in order for him to gain experience against American fighters. There’s no rush; he’s only 25 and has a lot of potential. By the end of this year we’ll be able to put him in with almost anybody in the super middleweight division.”

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